I just got an email-need advice.

**El Gatopod** · 01-18-2010, 02:52 PM

Here's a little backstory;

I'm the assistant manager of the advertising department for a local video rental store. We put up the money to do a TV spot, and I won't get into how complicated that was, but there's a whole lot of paperwork and proper procedure to follow, but anyway, they send us this guy to narrate the commercial. Big guy, deep voice. He comes in drunk as an ass and can't read his lines woth shit. We find him later out in the vestibule puking. Apparently this guy had a huge hangover.

So I get this email telling me I gotta fire him. What do I do?

**loaf** · 01-18-2010, 02:54 PM

You fire him. Since you know, the email said fire him. Because if you don't fire him....they fire YOU!

**El Gatopod** · 01-18-2010, 02:55 PM

Well, not exactly, he's not from my department.

**Josh_R** · 01-18-2010, 03:00 PM

If they tell you to fire him fire his ass. There is nothing you can do for him if they have already decided to fire him. So go ahead and fire him...

**Dodie16** · 01-18-2010, 03:08 PM

Fire him and find someone else who would appreciate doing something like this. This guy was hired to do a job, and he didn't do it.

It might be hard to be the "bearer of bad news", but that's what being in a management position sometimes entails. And Loaf is right. If you don't do what is best for the company that you work for, they're going to find someone else that can, which puts your job in jeopardy. You said that the e-mail that you got is from someone who is not in your department, but word can travel fast that you aren't doing your job as a manager, and it will look poor on your performance if that word got to someone who is in your department.

**Pete** · 01-18-2010, 03:12 PM

Fire him.

He was hired, he ****ed up, he gets fired. Simple as that. If the people above you want you do to it, you do it. Otherwise you're the one who gets in trouble.

Just tell him like it is. Hell, take this and use it verbatim.

"Hey, we hired you to do this job, and you showed up drunk and vomiting. This was seen as a great show of disrespect and a lack of professionalism. We no longer require your services."

Keep it short and simple. Just tell him what he did wrong and that he's done because of it. You don't need to explain anything else.

**bahamuts heir** · 01-18-2010, 03:15 PM

You tell that the big-shots decided to fire him,show him the e-mail, and go about your day

**loaf** · 01-18-2010, 03:20 PM

If you don't fire him they probably wont be keeping you because with todays economy, they will use any excuse to fire someone, me and my dad are people who got fired like that.

**El Gatopod** · 01-18-2010, 03:27 PM

I guess, I just found it odd that they'd ask me to fire someone from another department. I didn't do shit to this man, now because of me he's out of a job. Sometimes being assistant manager sucks.

**GypsyElder** · 01-18-2010, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by El Gatopod

I guess, I just found it odd that they'd ask me to fire someone from another department. I didn't do shit to this man, now because of me he's out of a job. Sometimes being assistant manager sucks.

Because of you nothing.
He's the idiot that screwed up. It's his fault, he should be the one feeling bad, not you.

**loaf** · 01-18-2010, 03:46 PM

Exactly, why should you feel bad for firing someone who clearly doesn't want to work. I got fired for showing up 10 minutes late one time, 5 min another, 30 another, hour and half another oops. Normally Best Buy wouldn't care but then they started to and I got fired why? because I showed up late.

**Josh_R** · 01-18-2010, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by El Gatopod

I guess, I just found it odd that they'd ask me to fire someone from another department. I didn't do shit to this man, now because of me he's out of a job. Sometimes being assistant manager sucks.

It's not your fault that he's out of a job. He is the one who f*cked up by showing up to work hungover. That is part of being a manager or an assistant manager, hiring and firing people and not feeling bad about the decision later on down the road....

Che · 01-18-2010, 04:46 PM

I think you should retire your assistant manager position to someone who doesn't need to get their advice on issues like this on a Final Fantasy forum.

That guy you fired can probably do your job better than you, and while he's drunk!

**El Gatopod** · 01-18-2010, 05:21 PM

Hey, it's easy for you people to say. You don't have to fire someone, have you ever done it before? Sucks, doesn't it? I know, I have to do it. You can't just say, "You can't feel bad about it!" Sure I can, assistant managers are human too, who am I to decide if a man loses his job because of me? The **** from his department should do it, not me.

Che · 01-18-2010, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by El Gatopod

who am I to decide if a man loses his job

This is why you aren't cut out to be a manager.

**GypsyElder** · 01-18-2010, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by El Gatopod

Hey, it's easy for you people to say. You don't have to fire someone, have you ever done it before? Sucks, doesn't it? I know, I have to do it. You can't just say, "You can't feel bad about it!" Sure I can, assistant managers are human too, who am I to decide if a man loses his job because of me? The **** from his department should do it, not me.

looks like someone needs a new job. If you can't handle firing someone who doesn't appreciate their job enough, to not go to work shitfaced, then you need a new position. He obviously didn't value or care enough about it

so you shouldn't give a crap either. If he really wanted to keep the job he wouldn't have made the such stupid mistakes.

**Meier Link** · 01-18-2010, 05:29 PM

I have spent years as a lead which is the equivilancy as a manager, I have had to hire and fire people before. It is never easy and it doesn't get easier.

Everyone does have a valid point though and you have to look at it through their point of view, it helps. You weren't the one that put the bottle to his lips. More then likely this is not the first time it has happened. He just happened to be on your end of the world when it came to be.

Now a killer is when you actually have to lay people off. Thats when being a boss sucks. Imagine walking up to someone and saying "Sorry, the company isn't doing so well and your services are no longer needed." and they look at you with either the "what did I do wrong" look or the "I thought we where friends" look.

Try sleeping that night knowing you just put a good employee out on the streets and ****ed up their whole life and they didn't do anything wrong.

Che · 01-18-2010, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by Meier Link

Now a killer is when you actually have to lay people off. Thats when being a boss sucks. Imagine walking up to someone and saying "Sorry, the company isn't doing so well and your services are no longer needed." and they look at you with either the "what did I do wrong" look or the "I thought we where friends" look.

Try sleeping that night knowing you just put a good employee out on the streets and ****ed up their whole life and they didn't do anything wrong.

I never want to do that. My dad has had to do that before, and listening to him tell me about it was just terrible. It kinda makes you tear up even if you aren't the person who had to lay someone off.

**GypsyElder** · 01-18-2010, 05:38 PM

What I don't get it, If I got super drunk the night before work, and you feel like crap in the morning, why would you go to work like that? he could have just called in sick or something to avoid being seen at work all hungover -_-

it's like this guy that went to my highschool, he left campus, went to a party, got drunk, came back, and threw up all over the place. It's like... why did you even come back?

Che · 01-18-2010, 05:42 PM

That and the fact that if you have work the next day, make sure you don't drink so much that you are that hungover. It's a responsibility thing.

**Polk** · 01-18-2010, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by El Gatopod

Here's a little backstory;

I'm the assistant manager of the advertising department for a local video rental store. We put up the money to do a TV spot, and I won't get into how complicated that was, but there's a whole lot of paperwork and proper procedure to follow, but anyway, they send us this guy to narrate the commercial. Big guy, deep voice. He comes in drunk as an ass and can't read his lines woth shit. We find him later out in the vestibule puking. Apparently this guy had a huge hangover.

So I get this email telling me I gotta fire him. What do I do?

Man up and fire the guy for not doing his damn job. Then, when he starts to take swings at you, you have two options: Duck and move, or roll up in the fetal position and cry, hoping he'll just give up on destroying every bone in your body.

I'd go with the latter. Always works for me.

**El Gatopod** · 01-18-2010, 06:36 PM

Maybe I do need to resign. I'm rather new at this job and this is the first time I had to fire someone, I don't want to have to do it on a regular basis. Thanks for the feedback, you're all right this job just ain't for me.

Che · 01-18-2010, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by El Gatopod

Maybe I do need to resign. I'm rather new at this job and this is the first time I had to fire someone, I don't want to have to do it on a regular basis. Thanks for the feedback, you're all right this job just ain't for me.

Now I feel bad for you. Maybe a lot of first-time managers go through this when they first have to fire someone. Maybe you'll learn to deal with it in a professional way and realize it shouldn't have impact on you emotionally. It's not your job to decide what is right or wrong in life, but it is your job as a manager to decide what is right or wrong professionally.

**El Gatopod** · 01-18-2010, 06:44 PM

I liked the job so much better before I became assistant manager, I'm just not much of a hardass. Shit I just can't do this job, sucks too much. That guy never did nothing to me, I won't fire him. Yeah, he was drunk, I don't know what problems he has but he never did anything to me. If he was in my posistion, he, **** I don't know he'd probably fire me, but I'm not going to.

Che · 01-18-2010, 06:52 PM

Well that's your decision. Don't fire him.

My advice to you as a person is this: sometimes you don't know why you choose the things you do, but if your instinct is to not fire the man, then don't. If you don't like the way things are going, then change them. You don't even have to quit. Just know that if you aren't going to obey the upper management, they are going to probably have something against you and you may end up losing your job for it, so don't be surprised.

However, nothing may happen to you at all. You may save that guy's job and sleep better at night for it.

**El Gatopod** · 01-18-2010, 06:55 PM

Yeah, I doubt I'll get fired but, I'll get shit for it, maybe they'll just give me my old job back. We can go ahead and close this thread. Thanks for all the advice.

**Jin** · 01-18-2010, 07:33 PM

The only thing worse than a hard ass manager is a manager that doesn't have the stomach to discipline, let alone remove employees who don't do their jobs and yet still get paid a wage similar to those who take their jobs seriously. Why should anyone try to be productive when a coworker makes a similar wage whilst pissing around all day or being too hungover to work?